IMD World Competitiveness Booklet 2021

the sub-region’s countries are spread throughout the ranking, with nine of them nested in the top half of the table and five in the bottom half. Finland raises to the 11 th position (from 13 th ). Likewise, Luxembourg reaches the 12 th place (from 15 th ). While Ireland drops to 13 th (from 12 th ), Germany raises to the 15 th rank from the 17 th . Germany’s improvement originates in its progress in all competitiveness factors. At the sub-factor level, the strongest performance is in domestic economy, international investment and employment (under economic performance), and scientific infrastructure and health and environment (under infrastructure). The United Kingdom improves one spot to the 18 th place, while Austria drops three places to the 19 th , Iceland remains The 2021 global trends have highlighted the importance of innovation, digitalization of the economy, welfare benefits and social cohesion. Highly competitive countries have been able to tackle these challenges by strengthening their institutional and social frameworks. Competitive economies succeeded in transitioning to a remote work routine while also allowing remote learning. In addition, the addressing of unemployment has been fundamental. In terms of other policies, those that ensured the effectiveness of key public spending as reflected by the trends in competitiveness sub-factors such as public finance, tax policy and business legislation, were essential to relieving the pressure experienced by the economies in our sample. 4. Concluding Remarks

at the 21 st . Belgium slightly advances from the 25 th rank to the 24 th and France boosts its position from the 32 nd to 29 th . Cyprus moves into the bottom half of the ranking at 33 rd (from 30 th ). While Portugal improves one place to the 36 th , Spain drops three to the 39 th . Conversely, Italy and Greece show a similar progress of three spots ranking 41 st and 46 th , respectively. Cyprus decline is largely due to its performance in government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure. The most significant downturn is in business efficiency in which all sub-factors drop. The largest deterioration in government efficiency is in public finance, and within infrastructure, is in education. Furthermore, the private sector in high- ranking economies has not only been fundamental to sustaining productivity levels and access to finance but also in strengthening the labor market through, for example, maintaining high levels of staff motivation and providing skill development opportunities for the workforce. Motivation and further skills have facilitated the transition to a more digitalized workforce. Finally, trends in highly ranked economies show that the health and education systems remain at the core of competitiveness contributing to having successfully endured the pandemic – so far.

25

IMD WORLD COMPETITIVENESS BOOKLET 2021